Trial of a California woman who stole chickens puts slaughter houses in national spotlight

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California woman on trial for taking four chickens from one of Perdue Farms’ major poultry plants has put animal treatment at slaughter houses in the national spotlight as her defense team argues she rescued the birds from abuse.

Closing statements are scheduled for Tuesday in a case that could land Zoe Rosenberg, 23, in prison for more than five years. During the seven-week trial, her defense hasn’t focused on if she took the chickens from Petaluma Poultry in 2023 — Rosenberg shared the video of the theft online and has posted on social media to hundreds of thousands of followers throughout the trial — but rather the justification for doing so.

Meanwhile, prosecutors have argued the case isn’t about why she took the chickens, but that she committed an illegal act.

“This is not a whodunit. This is a why-dunit,” said Kevin Little, one of Rosenberg’s lawyers, during his opening statement.

He said Rosenberg, who has been charged with three misdemeanors and felony conspiracy, investigated the plant for two months before taking the birds and consulted a veterinarian who was concerned about images that appeared to show animals being boiled alive. Chris Carraway, her other attorney, said in a statement that this “was a rescue, not a crime.”

Rosenberg is an animal rights activist with the group Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, which is known for animal rescues and protests that often garner national attention. Perdue Farms is one of the largest poultry producers in the country and supplies such major grocery chains as Safeway.

In recent years, similar cases involving animal rights activists have had mixed results in front of juries across the U.S. But in California’s Sonoma County, where agriculture is one of the main industries, Rosenberg faces an especially uphill battle. The county is believed to have prosecuted more animal rights cases than any other in the country, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

As a condition to stay out of custody, Rosenberg had to wear an ankle monitor while attending classes at the University of California, Berkeley, up until around the beginning of the trial last month.

“An immense amount of government resources have been spent prosecuting me for the alleged ‘crime’ of rescuing four abused chickens from a Perdue slaughterhouse,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Monday.

“Most distressing, however, is the fact that these resources are not being spent on stopping the criminal animal cruelty at Perdue’s facilities. Poppy, Ivy, Aster, and Azalea are safe but so many others are not,” she said, referencing the names her group gave to the chickens she took.

Prosecutors say Rosenberg entered Petaluma Poultry without authorization four times and attached GPS devices to 12 delivery vehicles before taking the chickens from a trailer and leaving with them, while about 50 DxE members demonstrated outside, the Press Democrat reported.

Another DxE member, Raven Deerbrook, faced similar charges before reaching a plea agreement in June 2024. She described herself as a former DxE member and testified for Rosenberg last week, saying she launched an investigation into Petaluma Poultry and notified Rosenberg about possible animal cruelty, the Press Democrat reported.

Rosenberg testified she disguised herself as a Petaluma Poultry worker using a fake badge and earpiece, the Press Democrat reported. She and other members of the group filmed the action and shared it. She said she was acting out of concern for animal cruelty, not as part of a criminal conspiracy.

Prosecutors say the break-ins to the processing plant fit a pattern of Rosenberg’s activism and were part of a coordinated campaign.

“You want open rescue to be something that happens everywhere?” Deputy District Attorney Matt Hobson asked Rosenberg during cross-examination last week, the newspaper reported.

“Yes,” Rosenberg replied.

Rosenberg was previously arrested in April 2022 for chaining herself to a basketball post during an NBA playoff game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves. She was protesting Rembrandt Farms, which houses millions of chickens and is owned by then Timberwolves’ owner Glen Taylor, for alleged animal abuse.

DxE says on its website that its mission is to shut down slaughterhouses everywhere.

“We will achieve revolutionary social and political change for animals in one generation,” the group says.

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Golden reported from Seattle.